Rajput: Tribes Jammu Border
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Tribes Jammu Border
The Manhas (No. 9)
The Manhas or Jamwal claim tSolar origin by direct descent from Ram Chandra. They say that their ancestor came from Ajudhia and conquered Jammu, and founded the city of that name. Some say that before this conquest they first settled in Sialkot; others, that they went tlrst to Kashmir, then to Sialkot, and then to Jammu. All seem agreed that they moved into Jammu from the plains. The name Jamwal appears to have been the old name of the whole tribe, but to be now confined to the royal branch who do not engage in agriculture, and look down upon their cultivating brethren who are commonly styled Manhas. The Manhas intermarry with the Salahria and otherer seeond-class Rajputs of the neighbourhood. They call their eldest son Raja and the younger one Mian, and use the salutation Jai ! They are for the most parr, Hindus, at leastt in the cis-Jahlam tract. They pour water on a goat's head at mukldioa, and consider that his shaking his head in consequence is pleasing to their ancestors. The Manhas are found in large numbers throughout the country below the Jammu border, in Rawalpindi, Jahlam, Sialkot, and Gurda-pur, but especially in the two first. In Sialkot 765 Manhas have returned themselves also as Bhatti, 7-11 as Salahria, and 775 as Baghbansi while in Gurdaspur 2,080 are also houTi as Raghban>i f-o of the Jat ^Manhas of Giijrauwala, 1,325 are Virk who have shown themselves as Manhas also. The Manhas are real hudjandmen, and therefore occupy a very inferior position in the local scale of Rajput precedence.
The Chibh (No. 10) — The Chibh claim to be descended from the Katoch Rajputs of Kangra, at least on the female side.If so, their position must once have been much higher than it now is ; but the -tory is probably untrue. I have suggested under the head Dhund that the Chibh may perhap^ be Punwar. Their ancestor Chib Chand is said to have left Kangra some 1,400 years ago, and have settled at Bhimbar in the Jammu hills. The first Chibh to become a Musalman was one Sur Sadi of the time of Aurangzeb. He died a violent death and is still venerated as a martyr, and the Mahomedan Cinbh ofrer the scalploeks of their male children at his tomb, till which ceremony the child is not considered a true Chibh, nor is the mother allowed to eat meat. Within the Pan jab the Chibh are found almost entirely in the northern portion of Gujurat under the Jammu hills. Tbe hills above this territory are their proper home, and are attached to the State of Kashmir. The tribe has also given its name to the Chibhal, or hill country of Kashmir on the left bank of the .laiilam along the Hazara border, though I beheve that they do not now occupy those hill-. The Chibh is a tribe of good position ; they, like the Janjua, enjoy the title of Raja ; Saiyads and Gakkbars do not hesitate to marry their daughters ; and tillthe Sikh rule they did not cultivate themselves. Now-a-days, however, they follow the plough. The history of the Chibh chiefs is related at page 583 of the Panjab Chiefs. The Chibh are identified by some with the Sibe of the ancients.
The Thakar (No. 11) — The Thakar Rajput: diown in the Abstract are almost all Salabrie Rajputs of Sialkot, where 5,279 men returned them elves a- Rajput Salaria Thakar. They art shown again under the head Salahria. So 921 of the Nabha Thakar are Cliauhan. The signiti cauce of the expression Thakar is discussed under the head of Rajputs of the Eastern Hills ; but
^ Mr. Brandi-eth says that Ma jor Tod comes to the same conclusion ; but I have been unable to find the passag.
They have however a wonderful story about a son of une of the kings of Persia marrying the Daughter of a Raja in the Decan and having by her h descendants, one of whom Nahur Chand be came king of Kangra. His son Chibb Chand became ruler of Bhimbar ; hence the Chibh.
Thakur is also sometimes used by the high Rajputs of tho hills as a title of diginty, ami the two
words are often confused.
The Salahria (No. 12) — The salahria are Sombansi Rajputs who trace their descent from one Raja Saigalof fabulous antiquity, and from his desendant 'Chandra Gupta. They say that their eponymous ancestor came from the Deccan in the time of Sultan Mamdah at commander of a force sent to suppress the insurrection of Shuja the Khokkar, and settled at Sialkot ; and that his descendants turned Musahn.in in the time of Haldol li )di. They are for the most part Mahomedan, but still employ Brahman, and do not marry within the tribe. They mark the fore heads of the bride and bridegroom with goat-' blood at their weddings. Their head-quarters are in the eastern portion of Suilkot, but they am .also found in Ourdaspur and Lahore. The Thakar returned from Sialkot under No. 11 of the Abstract are for the most part Salahria, and have been included in the figures for both tribes; while 741 of the Sialkot Salahria show themselves as Manhas and 347 as bhatti. In all these cases the men are shown under both headings. In Gurdas pur 3,712 of the Salahria are shown also as Bagar or Bhagar, and have been included under both Salahria and Bagri.
The Katil (No. 13) — The Katil .are a Rajput clan in Gurdaspur, regarding whom I have no iuforumtini save that they intermarry with the Salahria.
The Raghbansi (No 14) — The Raghbansi Rajputs are perhaps most numerous in the eastern part of the North-Wetern provinces. In the Panjab they are chiefly found in the Hill States and the sub-montaue of Gurdaspur and Sialkot, though there are a few in the Jamna districts also, but the name would appear to imply little more than traditional origin. Thus of the Gurdaspur Raghbansi 2,080, and 775 of those of Sialkot, have returned themselves as Manhas also, and are shown under both headings.
